A Midnight Scream
by PassionatelyHiddlestoned
Summary: Rear Window Adaptation. Newlyweds, you and Magnus Martinsson, just moved into an apartment together two months ago. While moving, you broke your ankle, confining you to a wheelchair. When you watch the neighbors out the window all the time, you think you witness something very grave. Can you and Magnus figure out the mystery behind the neighbors before it's too late? ReaderxMagnus
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is based off Alfred Hitchcock's film 'Rear Window.' For the right mood, I suggest listening to: 'Behind You: Scary, Ghost, haunting, suspenseful and creepy music,' off YouTube. **

You hear the door open, and turn your head. "Hello darling," said Magnus with a wide smile as he set his keys down on the table. You had moved into this apartment two months ago after you two got married.

When you were moving, you had insisted on helping carry the boxes in, much to Magnus's discouragement, and ended up falling down the stairs, breaking your ankle. Magnus still blames himself for letting you take the boxes, but of course, it was your fault for not letting him take them.

You turn the wheelchair you're presently confined to away from your window spot to face him. "Hi! How was work?" He came over, and kissed you. "It was great, thanks. Lots of paperwork, as usual. I'm just ready to get in, get settled, and throw on a film with some Jamieson on the rocks. How does that sound?" he asks, wrapping his arms around you. You smile, and close your eyes. "It sounds perfect." "Alright," he says, and heads toward the bathroom, "I'll just get my shower, and we'll start the evening!"

When you hear the shower start running and him get it, you wheel up to the bathroom door. "I wish I wasn't in this damn thing so I could get in there with you!" you say. You hear him laugh.

When he gets out, he dresses in his pyjamas and sits down next to you by the window. "Don't you get bored, just staring out the window all day?" he asks. You turn to him. "Oh no, it's quite interesting really, the daily routines of people. You see, Miss Lunder over there takes her dog out every morning at 8:00, then again at 2. And Mr. Hedgington across the way there? All he does all day is sit at his desk and write. Then there's Mr. and Mrs. Applegate, and their two children, Susie and Bobby. The two kids come out and play every day, and the parents take advantage of that time alone, let me tell you."

He chuckles. "Seems you've really observed what everyone's doing!" You smile. "I've got nothing better to do, might as well. But the people who really confuse me are the ones, see up there, just across from us? That's Frank and Marion Werther." Magnus looks to where you're pointing. "And? What confuses you about them?" You look thoughtful. "Well… they're newlyweds, as we are, but they don't seem to enjoy each other's company very much." Magnus shrugs. "That's the case in many marriages these days, I'm afraid." You shake your head. "But this is different. They've only been married for a few weeks! How could they grow to hate each other so in that short a time?" He stands up, and moves your chair away from the window, bringing you over to the couch. "That's not for us to worry about, darling. At least we're not like that." He kisses you on the cheek. You smile. "Yes, you're right. Just silly, bored me, trying to pass the time." You hobble out of the chair, and over onto the couch beside him. He wraps his arms around you, and flicks on a movie station.

"What should we watch?" he asks, hugging you closer. A storm had started raging outside. You, noting this, bite your lip and say excitedly, "Let's watch something scary! Like…." "The Haunting in Connecticut?" "No no, I was thinking something classic. Um… Texas Chainsaw?" "Darling, you know how much I despise gory films!" "Alright then, um… Poltergiest?" "Poltergiest." Magnus threw the movie on.

When the movie was over, you and Magnus were fast asleep on the couch. A lightning bolt struck right outside the window, and woke you up. You stretch your arms, and look over at the TV. The credits are rolling. You yawn as you look back to see if Magnus was asleep as well. He was, he could sleep through anything. You decide to go look out the window, check everything out.

You check the time from the clock in the kitchen. 2:08 am! You wheel quietly over to the window, not wanting to wake him up. You stop and look out. Most of the lights were out, except for Mr. and Mrs. Applegate, who's children must have gone to bed. You chuckle to yourself. But there was one other light on. It was the Werthers' light!

You squint through the darkness to see. The blinds were pulled, but you could make out two shadows in the bedroom. One was standing, pointing to something aggressively, and the other was throwing up their arms in defeat, clearly angry with the other. You frown as you watch, wondering what was going on. Suddenly, one turns around, and grabs something, and the other just stops, and puts their hands in front of them. The other advances to them, and… there was a scream.

Oh my god, you think. The person went out of sight, and the other one just looked down, then around, checking if anyone had heard. Since everyone was asleep, and the Applegates were busy, you were the only one who had heard. Your eyes widen, and you wheel quickly over to Magnus. "Darling! Darling! Wake up! Something terrible has happened!" Magnus jolts awake, and takes your hand. "What is it? Are you alright?"

You point to the window. "Just look! Come here!" You take him over to it. "You know the Werthers?" He nods. "I think I just witnessed a murder. In their apartment!" Magnus looks at you for a second, and sighs. "I don't think watching a horror movie was a very good idea tonight."

You shake your head. "No, no, I know what I saw! Magnus please believe me!" He just looks at you, concern in his eyes. "You're overtired, darling! You need some sleep!" He yawned, and rubbed his eyes. "Come to bed with me, we'll cuddle up together and get some rest." You look at him in desperation. "But-"

"Darling. There are so many things that could explain what you saw! Let's not jump to conclusions." You sigh as he shuts off the TV, and gets ready for bed. Maybe he was right. But what you saw was so real! He walked past you to the bedroom. "Please, come!" You nod slowly.

As you hear him get in the bed, you glance one last time out the window to the Werthers' apartment. There was Mr. Werther, leaving out the door with a large suitcase! Your eyes widen again. What could he be doing at 2:20 in the morning? But you decide not to tell Magnus.

You get into bed, your imagination whirling with what ifs. Then you hear Magnus's voice in your head, telling you not to worry about other people's problems. You shake away the uneasy feeling about your neighbours, and drift off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

In the morning, you wake up to the sound of Magnus bustling around in the kitchen. You stretch your arms out, and prepare to lift the covers off yourself to get into your wheelchair, but Magnus appears at the door with a platter and stops you. "I made you breakfast in bed," he says cheerily. You smile widely. "Thank you so much! You are so sweet," you say, kissing him as he sits down on the bed beside you.

"Well, I felt kind of bad about the way I just shrugged off your theory about the neighbours last night. I was being a complete grump, and I'm sorry." You laugh, and shake your head. "No, no, it's alright. You were probably right. Who knows what I could've seen. I shouldn't jump to conclusions."

He smiles as he puts his hand behind your head and pulls you into another kiss. You run your fingers through his hair as he keeps kissing you, deeply and intimately. He opens his eyes, and turns his wrist around to check his watch while still kissing you.

"Oh, blasted! I'm going to be late for work… cricket…. bugger…" he says as he jumps around the room, pulling his pants over his grey boxers and his shoes over his socks, running back over to the bed to give you a kiss in between applying each article of clothing.

You giggle. "It's Friday! Just think, we'll have the whole weekend together once you get through today!" you call after him as he gathers his things to leave. He grins mischievously back at you as he grabs his keys and shuts the door with a cute little wave. You smile to yourself. You still can't believe how lucky you were to find such a perfect man, on that day.

You had been around the area of a shooting not long ago, and when the police team pulled up, Magnus noticed you, completely defenseless, in the range of the gunman. He quickly brought you to safety, and kept you in the police car until they got the man. Afterward, when he finally talked to you, it was love at first sight.

You sigh happily as you eat in bed, propping yourself up with a couple pillows behind your back. When you finish, you hoist yourself out of bed, sitting yourself in the chair and wheeling over to the kitchen to put your dishes away. You were utterly and completely bored, since you couldn't get up or do anything during the day.

Magnus had offered to take some time off work until you got better, but you had declined graciously. You didn't want him to have to sacrifice his career for your stupid injury, since you knew how much work it was to be a detective. He was hesitant about leaving you home alone in case you hurt yourself any further, but he knew you knew how to care for yourself.

You sit for a second, thinking about everything that went on last night. The shadows, the scream… the scream was the hardest thing to explain. You move over to the window, and pull back the curtains. People-watching was the only thing you could do now.

You see the daily routines of people repeating themselves with a sense of warm continuity. You settle in, and lift your leg onto the sill, watching everything through the window. But no matter how much you try to forget about the incident, it keeps nagging at the back of your mind, and your eyes keep drifting back over to the Werther's place.

You look hard through the window, trying to see anything to readjust your theory. You move your head around for a better angle, and then realize what you're doing.

You immediately sit back, and shake your head at yourself. No matter what was happening over there, it didn't give you the right to spy! It was certainly none of your business. But still… you thought. What if something serious did happen? And you, being the only witness, were the only hope of justice?

You raise your eyebrow. You bet none of these apartments had seen this much excitement since the Applegates moved in. You see their children running and playing in the garden below. You decide to keep an eye on the Werthers, just in case. With children around, it could get dangerous for them.

But should you tell Magnus? You bite your lip. You didn't want him to think you were paranoid…or crazy even… but he was a very understanding person. You consider if you should tell him or not. As you're thinking, someone enters the building across from yours, and your attention is immediately redirected.

You squint through the glass, and wait for the person to arrive at the top of the stairs. It's…

Frank Werther! And he's carrying the same briefcase and wearing the same clothes that he was at 2 in the morning! He looks around suspiciously, then back to the door he was unlocking. You cover your mouth in surprise. What could he be doing from 2 to 9:00 AM that was so secretive?

You look around for his wife. She was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't with him… as a matter of fact, you hadn't seen her all morning. The apartment was empty! You frown, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation.

She went out last night, and hasn't come home yet? No, you hadn't seen anyone but Frank leave… She finally moved out? No, all her stuff was still in their room… You couldn't think of anything rational to describe this. You recall the events of last night, trying to remember any clues to reveal any important information.

Then you remember the scream. It was a woman's scream! What could Mrs. Werther be screaming about though? And that loud, like she was trying to alert anyone around… There was definitely something wrong here. And it could be dangerous for anyone aware or involved, so you decide you're going to let Tom in on the situation tonight. You just hope he gives you a chance.

You stare at the ground with one eye, waking up. You must have fallen asleep, as you didn't get very much rest last night thinking about this whole thing. You wheel slowly over to the bedroom to check the time, and realize that Tom is due home around 10 minutes from now. You grin excitedly.

You always miss him when he goes off to work for the day, and the thought of having him for the weekend all to yourself without any interruptions… was pure bliss. He could also hold you with his strong arms and comfort you if you got scared. You let out a content breath as you fixed up the place with a few candles and a little Hershey's chocolate kiss on his side of the bed.

You know Magnus's secret love for milk chocolate, and pleasure him with it whenever you can. You tuck it beside the pillow, and wheel over to the window again. You get out a magazine from underneath the table, to try and make him think you didn't spend the whole day staring out the window.

After a few more minutes, you hear the familiar door clunk and rattle of the key in the lock, and Magnus comes in, smiling. He takes off his sunglasses, and sets down his stuff. "Hello!" you say, putting down the magazine you're pretending to be oh-so-interested in. He laughs.

"I know you were looking out the window all day. Don't try to fool me with this," he says playfully, plucking the magazine from your hands and placing it back under the table. You smile. "You know me too well."

He comes over, and pushes you into the bedroom with him as he takes off his things. He begins unbuttoning his shirt, then stops halfway, noticing the little chocolate on his pillow. He smiles excitedly, and picks it up. He laughs as he holds it up, turning to you. "You are the most amazing wife I could've ever dreamed of."

He unwraps it, and bit into it, coming over to you. "Here, have some…" he muses as he sits down on the handle of your chair, bringing his lips close to yours. You lean over to him, and bite the other half of the chocolate sticking out of his mouth. You let it melt on your tongue, and he lifts your chin and kisses you.

"Now take off the rest of your shirt, please, and finish the striptease," you joke as he stands back up. He unbuttons the rest, slips his dress shirt off and swings it around, playing along. You clap, and giggle. He smiles as he gets a towel for the shower, walking into the connecting bathroom. "When I get out of the shower, I have a surprise for you."

You raise your eyebrows. "I do love surprises, especially when they're from my sexy husband!" you say, tossing him his pyjamas. You hum to yourself as you wheel back out from the bedroom. You stop in front of the window. Should I check again? You think to yourself. Maybe I can prove myself wrong before I tell Magnus…

You go over to the window, and peek back to see if Magnus is watching. He's just singing in the shower, his usual comical notes floating through the air as steam pores out of the bathroom. You nod your head in affirmation as you wheel closer to the glass, and gaze out.

There, right in the window with his back turned, was Frank. You could tell he was holding something…. But what? You craned your neck, and silently hoped for him to turn around. He finally did. He was holding something very long, and seemingly sharp. You grow concerned as he gets out a towel, and wraps the object in it, placing it inside the suitcase he had earlier. Just as he's closing the lid, you hear the water stop running.

You quickly draw the curtains again, and go back to the bedroom. You definitely had to tell Magnus tonight, before things got any worse. For the Werthers…. or you.


	3. Chapter 3

Magnus gets out of the shower. "Well, love, it's Friday night," he says, a smile playing at his lips as he dries his face. "It is," you grin back.

"And I think," he continues as he wraps his arms around your chest from behind, "That we should celebrate the evening with copious amounts of film watching, pudding consuming, and love making."

You smile dreamily as you let his hands trail down your shoulders. "That sounds perfect, Magnus." He kisses you, and takes you to the living room. But your mind snaps back to what you had to tell him. "Before we start… there's something I need to talk to you about."

He sits down next to you in the window bed rest. "Anything, darling. What is it?" You look past him out the window, and he immediately knows what you're talking about. "Is it that serious?" You nod, thankful that he understands. "Would it make you feel better if we had a stake out tonight, like in the movies?"

You laugh, and lean forward to kiss him. You really do have the best husband ever.

"Okay, we're going to have the best stakeout ever," he says, getting some things together, "with this fantastic pudding I picked up at the bakery on my way home! That was the surprise." You kiss him in thanks, and he sets a camera and a pair of binoculars down by the window, with some pillows. You raise your eyebrow. "You're prepared."

He smiles. "I figured we'd be doing this sometime soon." "Thank you." "Oh, love. No need to thank me. I love you, and if it makes you feel safer, I'm all for it."

You smile mischievously back at him, and check the time. It's just getting dark. "I think we have a little time first for some of the other things on that list," you say promiscuously, and he growls playfully as he takes you to the bedroom.

* * *

A little bit later, it's time to start the watch. "Okay, so what are we watching for?" Magnus asks, picking up the binoculars and opening the curtains. "Frank Werther is up to something, and I think it has something to do with the disappearance of his wife." "She's missing?" "I haven't seen her a few days!"

He looks at you for a long time. "You know, this is very important we get all the facts before we report anything." "Of course." He grins. "Good. Now, let's break out the pudding."

You two watch the apartment of your neigbors, and eventually you both start to doze off in each other's arms. The light is out in the apartment you're watching.

Suddenly, a light flicks on, and Frank Werther walks out of his place. You open one eye, and notice this. "Magnus!" you whisper, and he arouses. "Look, he's up." Magnus sits himself up and looks.

Frank was walking down the stairs holding the bag from earlier, with a hat covering his eyes. "What's he doing?" Magnus wonders aloud, watching him closely as he moves, oblivious to their watchful eye.

"He's going down to the garden," you say as Frank exits the building to the little flower beds. He pulls out the small bag he was holding with the object you saw, and begins digging slowly, careful not to attract any attention.

"What's in the bag?" Magnus asks. "I think it's something long and sharp," you say, recalling the mental image of what you had seen. "Ah. So he's burying the evidence…" You look over at Magnus. "So you actually believe me?" He meets your gaze. "Yes. I'm a detective, and we've been taught to only make accusations when we have all the facts. But I agree that something's happening with this man. _And_ his wife. I mean, we don't know what happened to her yet, but we need to find out. I've seen many murders, and we might be the only hope to solving this crime, as we just might be the only witnesses."

"Well, Mr. Let's Not Jump To Conclusions, you seem to have a pretty good theory going on," you joke. "Gang, it looks like we have a mystery on our hands!" he jokes back, and you giggle into his shoulder as he pulls you close.

Frank starts to bury the bag, and covers it with dirt. He's wearing gloves, so no one can link him with the bag if anyone ever found it.

He then hurries upstairs, back to his apartment, where he turns off the light. After the light is out, you and Magnus can faintly see his shadow moving around, probably putting things away, but you can't tell. After a while, it looks like he went to bed.

"Well, darling, should we turn in like our killer neighbour?" he asks, taking a deep breath. "Magnus," you say nervously, hugging him tighter, "I'm scared." He looks down at you.

"As long as I am living, I will never let any harm come to you. I will protect you with everything I have, my love, don't be afraid. I've got you. We're going to figure this out and get some solid evidence to present before the end of the weekend, if it's the last thing we do."

The last part made you uneasy. _The last thing you do_…..

What if Frank Werther knew you were watching? And was waiting until the perfect moment to get rid of the witnesses?

But that doesn't make sense, you tell yourself, how could he have seen you? You bite your lip, and Magnus strokes your cheek. "No more worrying. We're in this together."

You decide to be optimistic, to go to bed determined and strong. But you glance quickly one more time out the window, to the garden, to the neighbour's place.

There was a dangerous man living right across from you, and if he ever found out who was watching, the dangers could be closer than you think…


End file.
